# Habanos Barcode



## Gumby-cr (Aug 24, 2008)

Ok. There's only 1 online store I've gotten all my habanos from (no I'm not going to name it) and all the boxes which isn't many have all had the barcodes removed. Is there a reason they do this? I'm starting to worry that they may be counterfeits because of this. I'm still a noob in the dark side of habanos. Was just curious if anyone knows why they have been removed and if anyone else has ever experienced this. For those wondering also I have emailed the company and gotten no response back. Thanks :grin2:


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## Fusion (Apr 5, 2017)

Companys that are the official distributor for the region your buying from will leave the bar codes on, an unofficial distributor/seller removes them so they cant be traced, that dosnt mean they are fakes, just means the company is not an official distributor or is selling outside his market area, Usually called "Grey Market"


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## bpegler (Mar 30, 2006)

They are removed because these are grey market cigars. The seller is getting them from a source other than their authorized distributor. HSA doesn't like this, so they remove the barcode to keep anyone from getting in trouble.

Long story short, it's nothing to worry about, as long as you have a trustworthy source.

Edit: Well, apparently @Fusion beat me to it!


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## Fusion (Apr 5, 2017)

bpegler said:


> They are removed because these are grey market cigars. The seller is getting them from a source other than their authorized distributor. HSA doesn't like this, so they remove the barcode to keep anyone from getting in trouble.
> 
> Long story short, it's nothing to worry about, as long as you have a trustworthy source.
> 
> Edit: Well, apparently @*Fusion* beat me to it!


Im just happy i got the answer right, before i ever bought any CC's i did extensive research about it and i remembered the "Grey Market" info


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## Gumby-cr (Aug 24, 2008)

Thanks for the responses guys :grin2: I can stop worrying now.


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## bpegler (Mar 30, 2006)

Gumby-cr said:


> Thanks for the responses guys :grin2: I can stop worrying now.


We all worry about vendors until they become familiar to us. It's just human nature.

Years ago, back when we were still "Club Stogie" we had the same " no discussion of sources" rule. However, back then they allowed cigar advertisers in their banner ads.

Including reputable Cuban cigar vendors!

So on occasion, when a newbie would ask about sources, one of the crusty old timers would say "just look up".

They sometimes even had 10% discount codes in their banner ads!

Those were the days...


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Gumby-cr said:


> Ok. There's only 1 online store I've gotten all my habanos from (no I'm not going to name it) and all the boxes which isn't many have all had the barcodes removed. Is there a reason they do this? I'm starting to worry that they may be counterfeits because of this. I'm still a noob in the dark side of habanos. Was just curious if anyone knows why they have been removed and if anyone else has ever experienced this. For those wondering also I have emailed the company and gotten no response back. Thanks :grin2:


Your question i see has already been answered sorry late to the party. That being said a vendor any vendor that wanted my continued patronage. Had better respond to my questions e-mails etc. Failure to do so IMHO is rude crude and grounds for immediate dismissal. There are plenty of good, great ,decent ,vendors out there. Spend your money with whom you like, enjoy your cigars.:vs_cool:


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## Shaver702 (Jan 27, 2016)

When I started buying CCs, almost all the bar codes were removed. So i went out and bought a 16-24x magnify glass and verified the micro-print bar code. It was a cheap investment for a peace of mind.


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## Bird-Dog (Oct 16, 2009)

TonyBrooklyn said:


> Your question i see has already been answered sorry late to the party. That being said a vendor any vendor that wanted my continued patronage. Had better respond to my questions e-mails etc. Failure to do so IMHO is rude crude and grounds for immediate dismissal. There are plenty of good, great ,decent ,vendors out there. Spend your money with whom you like, enjoy your cigars.:vs_cool:


If it's who I think it is, they've gone to using an online form instead of publishing an email address. I'm always skeptical about those actually being received. But they do list a phone number. And it is a good vendor (again, if it's who I think it is).

Also note that the question is addressed in their FAQ (twice!), so they might not consider answering an email about it a priority:

_"...as a general rule Habanos only permits distributors to sell into their own country and the hologram and bar code identifies the individual distributor. In these times of increasing international trade, it is common practice to endeavour to remove these identifying marks..."_


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

I guess people have many different ways of doing business. In the end I live by the age old model/ motto. The customer is always right.

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## Bird-Dog (Oct 16, 2009)

TonyBrooklyn said:


> I guess people have many different ways of doing business. In the end I live by the age old model/ motto. The customer is always right.
> 
> Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk


You tellin' me you never had one of these posted in the garage?


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

curmudgeonista said:


> You tellin' me you never had one of these posted in the garage?


Quite frankly no my father didn't do business that way his father didn't do business that way and I never did business that way. Early in my tenure here there was a young gentleman that had a problem whit a vendor. I expressed my views on the subject that the customer is always right @Cigary chimed in and expressed his feelings on how he felt the same way. That was the beginning of a friendship. In which we decided that we were brothers from another mother. I just wish I could find that thread. Please excuse my punctuation as I am using talk to text on my phone. But I think you get the idea.

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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Oh yes to piggyback on this we had a girl come in right around Thanksgiving. She had no money recently divorced long story short we wound up selling huh a car we had outside for $3,800. For $2,200 that was all she had. She brings it back a month later now mind you she was past the warranty. Which my partner Frank rest in peace always used to give 1 month or 1,000 miles whichever comes first. On a car with over a hundred thousand miles there is no warranty in New York state. Frank did this as a courtesy and me and his father wanted to continue his legacy. We fix the car for free didn't charge her a dime. She has the nerve to come back a few weeks later I try to get paid for the tow. Which is never included it's always your responsibility to get the car to the shop. Frank's father just received the letter the other day that she's taking him to small claims court. Of course she's going to lose no good deed goes unpunished as my point. Well at least that's what a pessimist would say
I just chalk it up to an ungrateful person. It doesn't mean that I'm going to change the way I do business or what I believe. Sadly somebody else is going to come by short on money. Unfortunately we won't extend ourselves to them as we did to this young lady. As far as reducing the price so much and not only not walking away with a prophet but losing money that's just bad business

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## Bird-Dog (Oct 16, 2009)

TonyBrooklyn said:


> Oh yes to piggyback on this we had a girl come in right around Thanksgiving. She had no money recently divorced long story short we wound up selling huh a car we had outside for $3,800. For $2,200 that was all she had. She brings it back a month later now mind you she was past the warranty. Which my partner Frank rest in peace always used to give 1 month or 1,000 miles whichever comes first. On a car with over a hundred thousand miles there is no warranty in New York state. Frank did this as a courtesy and me and his father wanted to continue his legacy. We fix the car for free didn't charge her a dime. She has the nerve to come back a few weeks later I try to get paid for the tow. Which is never included it's always your responsibility to get the car to the shop. Frank's father just received the letter the other day that she's taking him to small claims court. Of course she's going to lose no good deed goes unpunished as my point. Well at least that's what a pessimist would say
> I just chalk it up to an ungrateful person. It doesn't mean that I'm going to change the way I do business or what I believe. Sadly somebody else is going to come by short on money. Unfortunately we won't extend ourselves to them as we did to this young lady. As far as reducing the price so much and not only not walking away with a prophet but losing money that's just bad business
> 
> Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk


I get you. And I love hearing how well you treat your customers. But you have to admit, in the case of the girl you already bent over backwards for asking... no... EXPECTING you to pay for the tow, the customer was not always right. It's a great philosophy to do business by, and I applaud you for it, but we all have our limits.

I had a customer back in my wholesaling days who was on the ropes. Hardly anyone would ship him 'cause he hadn't paid his invoices the previous year. I extended him $30K in credit with 8-mos to pay on a handshake and a promise on his loving wife's life I wouldn't get screwed . What does he do? Divorces her and files BK the 7th month. Nearly put me out of business too. Not quite the same thing, but you get my drift. Been there, done that.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

curmudgeonista said:


> I get you. And I love hearing how well you treat your customers. But you have to admit, in the case of the girl you already bent over backwards for asking... no... EXPECTING you to pay for the tow, the customer was not always right. It's a great philosophy to do business by, and I applaud you for it, but we all have our limits.
> 
> I had a customer back in my wholesaling days who was on the ropes. Hardly anyone would ship him 'cause he hadn't paid his invoices the previous year. I extended him $30K in credit with 8-mos to pay on a handshake and a promise on his loving wife's life I wouldn't get screwed . What does he do? Divorces her and files BK the 7th month. Nearly put me out of business too. Not quite the same thing, but you get my drift. Been there, done that.


Ouch yes I see your point. All we did was sell her the car for what we had paid for it $2,200. It was the repairs that made it a losing proposition. Even with me working on it for free the parts alone were $1,300. So breaking even turned out to be $900 big loss lesson learned. As far as credit we have another saying. In God We Trust all others kindly pay cash.

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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Oh yes I almost forgot she used to call us 5 or 6 times a week. Wanting to know why it was taking so long to fix lol. I guess we should have known then.lol

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